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495

August 8th

Sir
Your communication of 5th inst has been received. The Ass't Com'r directs me to say that in cases where freedpeople leave their Employers of their own free will and choice, and without any provocation of any nature whatever, on the part of the employer, of which [[strikethrough]] the [[/strikethrough]] an Officer or Agent of this Bureau must be the Judge and not the employers, then does the Employee become guilty of violation of Contract and cannot therefore demand payment for such portion of the Contract as he may have fulfilled. But the Ass't Com'r is by no means Convinced that cases of this nature are of frequent occurrence. On the other hand circumstances are daily recurring which go to establish the fact beyond doubt that now since the Crops are mostly laid by, and the immediate demand for labor has to some extent ceased, planters in many instances are driving off freed-people employed by them and refusing to pay them for their labor — To correct this evil and secure